Betrayal
by brandstifterin
Summary: Banished to AAU, Ric Griffin is frustrated that Serena's actions are affecting him more than they should.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: We had a power cut on Tuesday evening and I missed most of Holby as a result; I've just caught up now and was struck by the way Serena was acting (anyone else think she sounded like a bit of a power-crazy megalomaniac in places?), especially at the end. I'm intrigued to see how this story line will play out, can't imagine Hanssen rolling over obediently.**

**I'd already been thinking about something that Heymylove said to me, so I've incorporated that into a bit of this as it fits and works quite well (then again, I would say that - I wrote it). It was originally meant to be a one-shot but it's grown way beyond that now and will run to several chapters but I hope you like this nonetheless. I also hope I've kept Ric's POV in character; this is his interpretation of several key events over the last six months at Holby and we'll work our way through them as we go. AU in places too. **

**Usual disclaimers apply; I don't own anything Holby-related, not even an autograph and although I would love to, I'm not making any money from this, this is just for fun and I'll put the characters back where I found them, when I'm done here.**

**I will update the other stories soon enough, this grabbed me and wouldn't release its hold until I wrote the outline at least. All things being well I should have a couple of other updates over the weekend. Hope you're all well :-)**

**Onwards!**

* * *

Betrayal

'That', Ric thinks, ' just about sums up my day'. He scowls as he discards his now broken glasses on his new desk on AAU, watching the pieces of the frame scatter across the surface. The day was never going to start well – a young colleague's funeral cast a gloom over what should have been a day of celebration for Dr. Digby and the staff of Keller for winning the F1 prize – but it has failed to improve at all.

As the day progressed, it became harder for Ric to maintain his placid demeanour in front of the staff and patients and it's only the end of one shift of AAU. He is glad that Michael will be returning tomorrow and Ric can return back to the comfort of his domain on the fourth floor. The never-ending bustle of AAU _has_ worn him out, it's a whole different ball game than his work on Keller, he was never going to admit it to Serena, but they both knew it.

And Serena Campbell is, without doubt, the source of his current unease. Ric throws himself back into his new office's chair and scowls at the remains of his glasses, replaying in his mind, the conversation he has just had with the woman.

He had been taking a couple more painkillers, the shift had dragged and it felt like a day since Ric had last taken anything for his back. The movement of reflected light from the ward through the glass lets him know the office door has been opened and Ric assumes it's the F1, Dr. Wilde and doesn't bother to turn around and picks up the glass of water.

"Trying day?" He swallows the tablets as well as a mouthful of water, attempting to ignore her tone of voice, reminding himself that whatever it was he had with Serena has ended and he puts the glass back down on the desk.

"Teething problems." He states indifferently. He glances around and spots her leaning casually against the doorway, identical to how he's seen her at her own house when she's worn nothing more than one of his shirts and he looks away, swallowing.

"I know from experience that AAU can be something of a slog, especially for old timers, like... us." Ric continues doing what he was doing, not sure what she wants this time; he knows better than to assume this visit is an olive branch.

"Actually I found the experience invigorating." He turns, casually leaning against the desk.

"Oh well, you know what they say, change is as good as a rest." She comments lightly and he smiles at her, missing her even though she is only stood a few feet away. "And um, I can tell you now there _are_ going to be some big changes." He doesn't like the sound of that and when she lifts her gaze back to him, any warmth she just had in her expression has vanished and he is reminded of how dangerous this woman is, both professionally and personally.

"Meaning?" He takes the bait.

"Hanssen's decided to go back to the floor," the way Serena draws out the words make Ric realise that a bombshell is probably coming, "so as of today, I am, effectively, in charge."

He forces a patronising smile on his face, nodding; the actions masking his own hurt at the realisation that Serena was only ever interested in the power she could wield. She seems untroubled by his realisation and spares him one last look before sweeping off the ward again, looking at him as a predator would size up an opponent before deciding they were of no interest and unworthy of any effort.

Ric had watched her go, inhaling sharply as he catches the scent of her perfume and berates himself. He knows why he is so bothered by her actions but tells himself they don't have a relationship and therefore Serena is free to do whatever she wants. He tries to ignore the way it makes him feel.

Angrily pulling on his jacket, Ric looks for the clock in the small AAU office, his shift finished nearly an hour ago and he stands, making his way along the corridor to the main Wyvern exit, instead of descending from the fourth floor. He walks past the drinks vendor, the smell of coffee wafting across the lobby and Ric pauses at the automatic doors before turning back around and on a whim, orders two coffees.

He needs to talk and Ric enters the lift, hoping to find the one person whose advice he trusts implicitly.

Ric finds Elliot in his office on Darwin and wanders in with an extra coffee, pretending not to see the way Elliot's eyes immediately lock onto one of the cups in his hand.

"Give me a minute and I'll be all ears." Elliot obviously recognises Ric's need to talk. "I've got to submit this before Jac sees I haven't yet..." He trails off, frowning and wrestling with something on the iPad in front of him. "How do you cope with all this extra technology?"

Ric remains silent, deciding that a confession of still using paper and updating notes later probably won't help his friend conquer his issue and will almost certainly get him in trouble with Jac and Ric has had enough trouble from female consultants today. Finding a small, uncovered square of space on the surface, Ric deposits the two coffees.

He takes a seat, pulling it up near to Elliot's desk, marvelling that it hasn't yet collapsed and buried his friend; as long as Ric has known him, Elliot's desk has been a mess but the man always seem to be able to find what it is he is looking for. Ric waits patiently, moving his amused gaze from Elliot's whirlwind half of the office to Jac Naylor's spotless and ordered half and wonders how much Elliot's mess bothers her.

After another two minutes Elliot gives up doing whatever it was he was attempting to do and picks up his coffee. "So, have you heard the news?" Jac walks in just as Ric asks.

"What news?" She questions distractedly, not sparing either of them a glance as she searches through a desk drawer for something.

"I'm not sure..." Elliot comments but Ric waves away his concern.

"No, it's fine, you'll both hear soon enough anyway." He can see that he's got Jac's full attention. "According to Serena, Henrik is fed up of pushing paper and is leaving Serena in charge while he returns to the wards."

There is silence in the office while the two other consultants process the information. After a few moments, Jac breaks the silence. "What method did she use to get her way with the Swede?"

"Jac!" Elliot almost sounds shocked to Ric's ears and he remains silent, agreeing with Ms. Naylor's question and not able to provide an answer.

"No, it's true, first Sahira, now Serena. Something is obviously going on but I'll be damned if Darwin is going to get caught in the crossfire because they're playing games with each other."

"I don't think that's-" Jac cuts Elliot off.

"You do still want a job in a few months?"

"Of course." Elliot responds.

"Well then, we'd all better hope Serena doesn't get a taste for plastic surgery." Jac grabs her bag and stalks out of the office, leaving Ric and Elliot seated, calling after her as she shuts the door. "Night."

"Yes, well, Jac can be rather good at finding the rain cloud in every situation." Ric smiles to himself at Elliot's comment, he's known Jac long enough not to be offended by what she says.

"Jac _is_ the rain cloud." He responds. "Possibly an acid rain cloud, eroding everything in its path with its caustic nature." Elliot doesn't respond, attempting to look disapproving but the twinkle in his eyes belies his amusement and agreement with Ric's assessment and the two lapse into a comfortable silence for a minute or so.

"How is everyone doing after Tara's death?" It's pretty obvious that the staff are grieving but Ric asks anyway.

"Oliver is understandably distraught but insists on working to distract himself." Elliot sighs and Ric gets the impression that there's been a bit of friction between the two and he hopes it passes.

"Ah."

"She was a promising Doctor." Elliot observes and Ric momentarily feels a bit selfish, coming to Elliot with his problems when his friend clearly has enough on his plate already. "Anyway, you know all this already. What's troubling you, Ric?"

"It's this news about Henrik and Serena." Ric eventually confesses, sipping his coffee to buy him so more time, "Jac's right, _how_ has Serena managed to get Hanssen's job? And what does it mean for the rest of us?" His shoulders slump and Elliot leans back in his chair, half-hidden behind the paper mountain range he has created on his desk with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Whilst I might be mistaken, I don't think I am." Ric averts his gaze to his coffee, feeling like one of his friend's Hertzig devices under Elliot's watchful scrutiny. "I get the impression that there's more to this than you're saying."

Ric sighs, feeling torn. Elliot might portray a bumbling, gentle soul but he rarely misses a trick and nine times out of ten when he does, it's because he's deliberately turned a blind eye to what is in front of him.

Ric appreciates that he does need to talk about what is bothering him, lest his whole situation with Serena begin to negatively affect his work. As much as he wants to remain silent, he knows he can't; he also knows he cannot speak to Serena about this and of anyone, Elliot is the best person to talk to. Having made his decision, Ric straightens up in his chair and lifts his chin, his gaze meeting Elliot's and nods.

"You're right, there's a _lot_ more to the story."

* * *

**AN2: Quite a short little start but please drop me a line, I've never written Ric's POV before so some feedback and/or pointers on areas for improvement would be gratefully received.**


	2. Chapter 2 - When Sacha Met Chrissie

**AN: I quite like Serena's character but I didn't like her in the previous episode hence this story; although this story isn't Serena-bashing by design, she is unlikely to come out of it smelling of roses as things stand. It may change. **

**Also as the way things stand, we're going to head back a few months and work our way forward to the current day, so if this chapter seems unconnected to the first, that'll be why :-)**

**Thank you all for your lovely reviews and advice RE: Ric. Mucho appreciated. I had to rewrite this chapter a bit, I was in danger of turning him into some kind of sap. Hopefully this version is a bit more believable.**

**Onwards!**

* * *

When Sacha Met Chrissie

_"You're right, there's a lot more to the story."_

Ric doesn't elaborate any further, falling silent after his admission, fiddling with the plastic lid on his coffee cup.

"A problem shared is a problem halved." Elliot comments sagely and although he doesn't show it, Ric is amused that coming from Elliot, the words are sound advice but from anyone else, Ric would consider them contrived. Ric still doesn't respond and after a little while, he hears Elliot sigh and speak again.

"So it's more than Ms. Campbell's coup d'etat or Mr. Hanssen's abdication that's bothering you?"

Ric sighs, "I don't know _what_ the woman is trying to do."

"How about you start with what she has done?" Ric grunts, still not lifting his gaze from the cup in his hands, the last dregs of coffee now cold.

"Your response would suggest that it's something between you and Serena rather than her takeover which is bothering you." After another few seconds of silence, Elliot sighs. "We're going to be here all night if I have to try and guess. I'm not a mind reader."

"I... we..." Ric pauses, trying to work out quite which terms would be define his _thing_ with Serena Campbell. "We slept together." He eventually confesses.

"When? Recently?" Elliot asks, obviously anticipating a recent event to cause the fall-out between the two GS consultants and Ric smiles grimly.

"No, last October at Sacha Levy's wedding."

* * *

Ric steps into the noisy restaurant, Rodolfo's, with Malick and both men are struck by the turnout, Rodolfo's is absolutely packed to the rafters. He'd got a lift from the hospital with Malick and both had glanced at one another, uncertain if the uninspiring building in front of them was the correct venue until they spotted Chantelle who waved, enthusiastic as ever and they'd followed her into the restaurant.

After chatting with her for a couple of moments, they are interrupted by an older lady calling for everyone to be quiet and she almost pushes Chrissie Williams out of the front door. Realising they need to move from their current position, Malick elects to stay with the blonde nurse and Ric moves to the other side of the makeshift aisle to stand next to one of the pillars. The woman calls again for them all to be quiet and the room obediently falls silent.

"Sacha's mother," Serena appears and informs him in a stage whisper in Ric's left ear, her breath tickling his face. "Quite the resemblance wouldn't you say?" Ric wants to turn around and frown at the no-doubt smirking woman for her unnecessary comment but at that moment, Sacha and Chrissie enter the building and they all break into applause.

Serena stands with him for the service, looking for all intents and purposes as if she is listening intently to the registrar. Ric happens to glance down at her during the vows and notices an odd expression, almost pained on her face and confused, he looks away before she can spot his brief scrutiny, returning his attention to the couple of front of them all.

As soon as the vows are exchanged, the mood becomes more relaxed and Ric gathers from Serena that there had been some last minutes nerves from the bride. There is a brief hiccup with a woman on the microphone that Ric vaguely recognises as a nurse, perhaps from Darwin or AAU, however she is swiftly and bodily removed from the room by Sacha's best man.

Bemused by the event unfolding in front of them, everyone suddenly seems a little uncertain but Michael Spence rescues the microphone and ropes Malick into starting the dancing. Ric watches, relieved for Sacha and Chrissie when others follow the Keller registrar, the party mood restored as the music is turned up.

Ric watches as yet more hospital colleagues head to the dance floor and he can spot several members of staff from each ward joining in. Distracted by counting them, Ric doesn't hear someone sidle up behind him.

"Lost something?" A familiar voice drawls in Ric's ear and he turns to find Serena stood quite close to him, holding two glasses of wine. He frowns at the sight but either Serena doesn't notice or ignores Ric's disapproving look.

"There are a lot of people, a lot of hospital staff here," Ric explains carefully.

"It's Sacha's wedding," Serena retorts,her tone of voice indicating that she believes it to be the most obvious answer in the world. "He's rather popular – what were you expecting?"

"I was expecting," Ric responds in a measured tone, "that the hospital not be left unmanned while what seems like every member of staff takes the afternoon off to celebrate and become intoxicated." Serena tilts her head back slightly and laughs, the rich sound drawing the attention of a couple of people nearby who stare at them for a few moments longer before resuming their own conversation.

"God, you sounded like the Swede then," Serena says, her amusement still plain to hear. "Take a look around, Ric," she instructs and Ric complies although not entirely certain what he's meant to be seeing.

"For what?" He questions and Serena sighs, pushing one of the wine glasses into his hands and taking a sip of the other.

"Mr. Hanssen is still at the hospital," Serena comments with a smirk and Ric suddenly has an image of the tall Director of Surgery running between all of the wards and Ric is forced to admit to himself that if anyone could pull off running the whole hospital single-handedly, it would be Henrik Hanssen. Serena, seeing that Ric isn't convinced, adds, "he okayed this exodus himself; the hospital is perfectly well staffed and covered. Now, drink up!"

She instructs him, raising her own glass to take another sip. Ric weighs her words up in his mind, knowing that Serena Campbell wouldn't endanger the hospital to attend a party and reassured, he lifts his recently acquired wine glass with a nod.

"That's the spirit." Serena beams at him and darting forwards, presses a chaste kiss to his cheek before stepping back with a smirk and turns on the spot, heading off to the dance floor, depositing her empty glass on a table as she passes. Ric watches her move through the crowd, offering a quick twirl to the delight of Malick and Chantelle and he absent-mindedly raises a hand to his cheek, to the spot where she'd kissed him, wondering why she'd done that.

Ric doesn't dance at all throughout the evening, content to remain where he was, sitting and watching the Keller staff dance and have a good time with the intermittent additions of Serena Campbell and Michael Spence.

Ric turns away from his post for a moment, signalling to the bar man for a glass of water. By the time he has got his drink and resumed his spot, he can only see Michael, Malick and Chantelle from their group over the far side of the restaurant. Serena has disappeared and Ric cranes his neck, looking for her, finding himself disappointed and almost wary when he can't locate her. He doesn't trust Serena Campbell and would prefer to keep an eye on her for his own sake, as much as for the patients' sake.

Suddenly the woman in question appears in front of him and sits herself down on the seat next to Ric's and steals his glass of water before he can protest.

"Thirsty work, keeping up with the youngsters." Ric says nothing but rises, returning from the bar with two more glasses of water and gives one to Serena who nods, gratefully. "So, any chance of tempting you onto the dance floor, Mr. Griffin?"

Ric can't help but smile, shaking his head. "I would say it's so I don't show you all up but I'm more likely to show you all up by straining something which isn't the effect I'd be after." He comments honestly. "I did however, notice you showing _the youngsters_ a thing or two." He ventures and is rewarded with a brilliant smile.

"Well, I do try."

Ric feels more relaxed in her presence than he can ever remember feeling, with the constant tension and professional conflict removed, he finds her an engaging conversationalist and the two easily fall into conversation.

By the time that Ric next looks at his watch, a couple of hours have passed and he looks up in surprise to see that the restaurant is a lot emptier than earlier. The majority of the staff have gone and only a few of the more determined (and inebriated, his mind supplies) remain behind. It's long after Ric had planned to leave but he had lost track of the time, genuinely enjoying talking with Serena.

It doesn't take Serena long to notice that Ric's attention has wandered and she observes him as he looks around, attempting to locate Malick. Ric grimaces to himself as he fails to find the registrar, resigning himself to a lonely walk back to the hospital to pick up his car before heading home.

"Problem?" He hears Serena enquire and Ric sighs.

"Mr. Malick appears to have gone home." He explains. "He was my lift."

"Ah," Serena nods, understanding. "I think I might call it a night soon as well; are you sure I can't tempt you onto the dance floor for a final spin?"

"Quite sure." Ric answers with a smile at Serena's tenacity.

"Shame," Serena drawls and Ric is suddenly uncertain whether the woman is flirting with him or not. As he is busy reminding himself to be careful around her, this evening's charming woman is still the same doctor he locks horns with every shift, her expression changes from an almost predatory smile back to a more business-like one. "Well then, why don't we share a taxi? Much more cost effective. I'll be back in a minute."

Ric blinks at the transformation, making him wonder if he imagined it; he frowns as he watches her walk away until he realises that she is only heading to the toilets.

* * *

As Ric wakes, he is aware of something. However, his tired and slightly hungover brain won't process anything else and he resigns himself to opening his eyes. After a moment or two to summon the energy for such a task, Ric opens his eyes and takes in the room.

Satisfied, he shuts his eyes again before a frown creeps onto his forehead. He is sleeping on his usual side of the bed and is alone in the room, both of which he would expect. However, it is neither his bed or his bedroom that he has woken up in. His frown deepens as he tries to recall where he is and how he came to be here.

Ric can remember leaving Rodolfo's and sharing a taxi with Serena as she suggested. He heard her give the driver an address as they climbed into the waiting vehicle and Ric decided to wait until they'd dropped Serena off before giving his own address.

He sat next to her in the back of the cab, apologising out of habit when her leg brushes his. It's dark but he can just about make out a small smirk on her face from the orange street light and nonplussed he looks back out of the window as they head towards a part of Holby he is less familiar with.

He'd physically jerked in surprise a few minutes later when he'd felt her hand on his leg but when he'd looked around, she was staring innocently out of her window. A few seconds later, her hand was back on his thigh, her fingers trailing up and down his leg and this time she met his gaze with a smug grin and he'd been too distracted to ask why.

The taxi had stopped about a minute later and she'd dragged him out of the vehicle, paying the driver and pocketing the receipt and Ric watches as the taxi speeds off. He turned to face Serena, to ask her why she has sent his ride home away when she takes two steps towards him and kisses him, before he can speak.

Ric finds himself reacting automatically, kissing the woman who'd seemed contractually obliged to frustrate and undermine him at least half a dozen times a week. His expression must have broadcast his confusion because she smiles when they part.

"If you could see your face," she tells him, her smile transforming into a smirk.

"Why?" Ric finally finds his voice.

"Why not? We're both adults. I want this and if I'm not mistaken..." She smirks again, her voice trailing off and she steps away, turning towards the front door of a house that Ric assumes is hers and gets about five paces away before she realises that he isn't following her.

"But-" He wants to tell her that it isn't wise but she cuts him off, retracing her steps until she's in front of him again.

"Come on Ric. I'm divorced, not a nun." It's Ric's turn to raise an eyebrow at the image, it's one vocation that Serena would never be able to do. He rather fancies that Serena would bring Christianity to its knees within months as she installed herself at the top of the church as the new figure of divine worship.

He finds himself following Serena into her house and he can't help but think that he's heading 'into the spider's lair' as he shuts the front door behind him. She'd kissed him, leading him upstairs into a room with a light floral pattern, photo frames and other things dotted over the surface. Ric had never given any thought to Serena's bedroom but considering what he knows of her personality, this light, feminine room wasn't what he would have anticipated.

"Judging by your face, Lord only knows what you expected my bedroom to look like."

He'd ignored her teasing comment and instead had set about removing her black suit jacket, running his hands over her dark pink shirt and pulling her closer to him, kissing her again as he shrugs out of his own jacket, guiding them towards her bed.

* * *

By the time that Ric opens his eyes again, Serena Campbell is stood at the end of the bed with a coffee mug in a hand, fully dressed as she sorts through the previous day's clothes with the other. He tenses at the sight of her, silently cursing himself for his lack of will-power. Of all the colleagues he could have slept with, Serena Campbell is probably the most ill-advised.

"Serena?" Ric watches as she ignores him, her movements brisk and efficient and Ric is aware that their relationship will reach a whole new level of awkwardness and tension if they don't nip this in the bud.

"Serena?" He tries again with the same outcome and not caring about his state of undress, throws the duvet off him and moves across the room to Serena. Ric uses both hands to gently turn her until she is facing him, aware that any sudden movements on his part won't end well for him.

"We need to talk about this-"

"No, we don't." Serena retorts, cutting off Ric who sighs at Serena's trademark stubbornness.

"We do." Ric insists. "Even if it is only to say that last night... If we agree that this is unlikely to-"

"It _won't_ happen again." Serena states firmly, interrupting Ric for a second time in as many sentences and he takes a deep breath, resisting the urge to remind her that last night was her idea.

"Ok." He agrees. "As long as we're in agreement then there is no need for things to be awkward or different in any way between us. We can put it down to the alcohol or whatever you want, we don't have to speak of it."

He watches Serena's face as his words sink in and is relieved when she nods and her expression loses its aggression. "Fine. Nothing changes, I don't want Hanssen sticking his nose in because if he asks, I _will_ tell him." Ric swallows knowing that she probably would. She then makes him feel even more self-conscious when she glances down his body and back up to his face, raising an eyebrow.

"Why don't you put some clothes on and I'll see if I can find us something for a quick breakfast before work." She smirks and slips past him, heading for the bedroom door, leaving Ric staring after her, wondering quite what all that was about.

* * *

"Were things awkward?" Elliot asks when Ric is done recounting the tale, admittedly only parts of the story, his friendship with the CT consultant only extends so far.

"No." Ric answers. "I was surprised but it seemed to work; we settled back into our routines almost straight away and everything managed to go back to as _normal _as usual."

"So what's changed between then and now?"

"I don't know." Ric answers honestly; he has his suspicions but no proof. He has never been one for rushing into a diagnosis or an accusation with sufficient evidence and he isn't going to start now.

"Hmmm, I don't see why one..." Elliot pauses, scratching the back of his neck and Ric hates his friend's perceptiveness at that moment. "It was just the once, wasn't it, Ric?"

Ric swallows but remains silent whilst mentally scrambling for some kind of answer as well as conceding that no, it wasn't just the once.

* * *

**AN2: It was never the intention for this just to be a one-time thing sooooo... it means more chapters!**

**I hope you enjoyed that, feel free to drop me a line. :-)**


	3. Chapter 3 - The Third Way

**AN: I've been struggling to capture Ric's POV, I don't really know his character too well so this has taken a while. This isn't the main chapter or what I had planned for the third instalment but because that is taking a while longer, I've written this to whet the appetite or act as an interlude. Whatever you want to call it. **

**Usual disclaimers and all that.**

**Thanks for reading and an extra thanks for those who have reviewed, your input (especially about Ric) is much appreciated.**

* * *

The Third Way

Since Serena had joined the hospital, she had had an effect on him. At first, the emotions that Serena provoked, seemingly at will were frustration and no small amount of anger at her tricks as the woman aimed to 'streamline' the main General Surgery ward in the hospital. After a while, Ric grudgingly accepted that Serena Campbell was a talented surgeon, a formidable business brain and to his surprise, a rather charming woman.

As she became more settled at the hospital, she relaxed a little and Ric saw more of the woman behind the titles and numerous letters after her name. The more Ric saw of the real Serena, the more intrigued he became; the idea of something more than a fractious working relationship with the woman crossed his mind a few times only for the consultant to do something which would remind him how dangerous she can be.

The whole mess which is Serena's non-referral scheme was a prime example. He'd cautioned her against promoting such a scheme and Michael Spence in AAU had railed against it but Serena had carried on, ignoring him and the American, quoting numbers at Hanssen and Binns and Mr. Mooney had lost his life as a result.

Ric had been with Serena in theatre when the news had come through and he'd seen the shadows under her eyes get bigger and darker as each day passed. When the investigation had finally concluded, clearing the hospital and its staff, Ric had found Serena in their office, looking as if the weight of the world had been removed from her shoulders. Her relief had been almost tangible and he had found her momentary display of humanity endearing, restoring his faith in her as a person after he'd privately wondered if she had lost her way in the face of statistics and budgets.

He had been relieved that Serena had been cleared by the investigation, no matter the frequency with which they fought or clashed over patients or policy, he had come to think of them as a team, occasionally misfiring but on the same side when push comes to shove.

The night of Sacha and Chrissie Levy's wedding had been Serena's first chance to let her hair down, metaphorically, since the non-referral and Richie Mooney debacle. She was determined to put the episode behind her and they celebrated long into the night.

Ric knew that a relationship with the woman was out of the question but he'd been drawn to her since her first shift. He knew that he could have put up more of a resistance when he'd found himself outside Serena's house but the temptation was too much to resist and he'd allowed her to draw him into her bed. Ric had managed to relegate his curiosity about Serena to the back of his mind until she had kissed him in the middle of the street when it had come flaring back to life.

On the way to avoiding a potentially awkward morning-after, a physically and mentally satisfied Ric had told himself that he could once more push his more personal musings about Serena to the back of his mind, any questions he had, answered. However, it wasn't quite that straightforward, like an item which has been removed from its packaging, Ric's thoughts about Serena would not be hidden away quite as neatly as before.

After all, he and Serena had agreed that it wouldn't happen again and Ric was content to give it time for his thoughts to settle. In hindsight, Ric thinks, he probably should have guessed that it wasn't going to be that simple.

* * *

They'd lasted a week.

Nearly a week.

Sacha and Chrissie's wedding had been on Friday so both Serena and Ric had the weekend to ready themselves for seeing the other on Monday. After the taxi had dropped them both at the hospital to pick up their cars, he'd driven home and Ric spent the weekend inventing tasks to distract himself.

He was spared having to face Serena first thing by having a consultation at St. James' in the morning and Ric travelled straight there. For once he wasn't irritated by the inevitable and mostly avoidable complication which kept him there for most of the morning. Ric found himself glad of the delay in seeing Serena again, he'd spent his weekend avoiding thinking about her and hadn't given any thought to how he should act around her.

'Act like it never happened', was fine in theory and in the awkwardness of Serena's bedroom on Saturday morning, it seemed like the best thing to say but Ric finds the reality somewhat different. Recently Ric has found himself doling out advice to most of the staff on Keller but he is currently at a bit of a loss how to proceed in his own situation and he's close to tying himself in knots as his mind points out flaws and contradictions in each approach.

"Just be yourself," Ric scoffs to himself as he climbs out of his car and walks across the familiar grey car park to the Wyvern entrance of Holby General. As Ric draws closer to the tall building, his gaze automatically flickers to the right and onto Serena's BMW, parked next to Hanssen's black Volvo. Ric's first thought is that he isn't certain whether to be relieved or not that Serena is at the hospital although it sounds tempting, one of them calling in sick would only delay the inevitable.

By the time Ric emerges from the Keller consultants' office, he is feeling a little better, he still hasn't seen Serena but Chantelle cheerfully informs him that, "Ms. Campbell is in theatre."

"Up to her elbows in old Mr. Duncan's bowels." Malick appears from behind a pillar, in time to add to Chantelle's explanation.

"Mr. Duncan," Ric frowns, trying to recall the man's details, "isn't he Henrik's patient?"

"He is now Serena's patient, by order of the big cheese himself." Malick adds, failing to conceal his amusement at Serena's misfortune but tempers it as he brings Ric up to speed on the ward.

It was business as usual when Serena swept into their shared office a short while later, still in her scrubs. Her greeting was cordial enough, there was nothing in her tone to suggest that she had welcomed him into her bed just over 48 hours ago.

He'd asked after her surgery and she'd scrunched her face up as she told him about Hanssen's last-minute and undoubtedly planned delegation. After her explanation finishes, they seem to realise at the same time that they are staring at one another and without anything else to say, an awkward tension threatens to develop.

"Well, I had better get on." Serena breaks the silence and their eye contact, her movement ending Ric's trance.

"Yes, of course." He picks up his pen again, leaning his left elbow on the desk as he starts to update his written notes onto the patient's folder.

Ric shoots her a look every so often but she never seemed to notice his brief scrutiny, too engrossed in what she was typing. After the third or fourth time Ric catches himself watching her, he tells himself to do as _he_ had suggested and put it all behind him. He deliberately returns his attention to the pile of patient folders in front of him, not noticing how Serena looks up and over to him for a few moments through her fringe, a thoughtful expression on her face.

The first couple of hours with Serena weren't awkward _per se_ but there was an awareness of the other, at least on Ric's part which eventually faded and by the end of the shift, they were more relaxed around one another as the realisation settled that neither of them were going to mention anything and that they might just get away with it.

For the most part, it had been, Ric reflected, a lot easier and less awkward than it could or probably should have been. He wasn't about to start complaining however and was in fact immensely relieved that his week with Serena progressed as smoothly as it did, not giving any of the staff any reason to suspect that anything had altered.

Their new-found sense of normality lasted several shifts and one argument. Towards the end of the week, there had been a moment which could have ruined it all; Serena and Ric were in their office, having relocated from the ward, arguing about a post-operative patient.

He'd been perched casually against his desk, facing the other consultant's half of the office in an attempt to make the woman understand that the patient, Mrs. Hodgson _wasn't_ ready to be discharged yet. Serena, sat behind her desk had refused to accept his argument. They had locked horns, at an impasse and neither surgeon willing to concede the familiar argument but not satisfied with a stalemate either.

"She's taking up a bed, Ric."

"She's _my_ patient." Ric reminds her, working to keep his tone even, "and I don't believe she is ready to be discharged yet."

After a few pointed comments from Serena about Ric's 'care in the community' project wasting time, money and beds, she had stood, throwing her hands up in a typical gesture of frustration that he is quite familiar with. He watches her stand up, pushing her chair back away from the desk and she surprises him by heading towards the door.

Ric, believing Serena to be about to ignore him and order one of the nurses to discharge Mrs. Hodgson against his wishes had pushed off his desk and moved towards her, in an attempt to intercept her before she can leave the office. He made it to the ajar door at the same time as Serena and Ric reacted, reaching past her and pushed the door closed, turning and pushing Serena against the door to stop her leaving in the same movement, using his own body to keep her in place.

She had a look of surprise on her face, her mouth forming a small 'o' at the unexpected action. Ric imagines he has about half a second before Serena rips out his entrails with her bare hands for his actions and unsure whether he'll survive the next few minutes, he seeks to distract her the only way that he can currently think of.

Ric presses his lips against Serena's and kisses her.

* * *

**AN2: So, what do you reckon? Is Ric about to have his insides forcibly rearranged by Serena?**

**Feel free to drop me a line, let me know what you think :-)**


	4. Chapter 4 - Chasing Demons

**AN: Struggled with this chapter; I knew what I wanted to happen but it was just filling in the details (i.e. writing the damn thing) that proved difficult. Anyway, got there in the end, I think. Ric is an absolute bugger to write.**

**Thank you all for your reviews, reads and follows so far – it's much appreciated. Especially those who are giving me some advice about Ric's character. It's been really helpful so thank you.**

**'Just One Of Those Days' next chapter isn't quite there yet but I hope to have it posted by the end of the week. Hope you're all well and enjoying the sunshine. **

**Usual disclaimers and all that jazz. **

* * *

Chasing Demons

Ric didn't see much of Serena over the remainder of the week which followed their kiss in the office. Partly due to their shifts not overlapping, it was his turn to take some of the night shifts which allowed him to catch up on his paperwork, his music playing in the office without Serena asking him to turn it off as was her wont. It also gave him the opportunity to think about his colleague and he'd spent a little more time than he should care to admit staring at her vacant desk.

Ric reflects that he was probably lucky to survive the incident in the office intact and that it was only the way he'd caught Serena so completely off-guard that meant he was capable of walking away with all of his internal organs still in their correct anatomical locations.

He'd shut the office door and pushed Serena against said door, her back pressing against the frosted glass panes, Ric had reacted without thinking, had kissed Serena and she had returned his kiss, her lips battling for dominance with his. Ric smiles a little as he thinks back, amused at how Serena's brain is wired to compete, no matter the situation.

He has a day off, having been on the night shift last night and has only been up for a few hours, having pottered around, ready to go back to bed in a few hours to try and return to a normal sleep pattern. As he stares into his fridge, wondering what to eat, his mind returns back to the scene in their office.

Ric had moved a hand up to cradle Serena's skull and as he does so, he can smell a waft of apples and assumes that it is the result of some kind of shampoo that she is using. The movement of his hand along her jaw seems to trigger Serena's own actions and she raises both hands up his torso to rest on his chest and then she pushed him.

Hard.

He'd staggered back a couple of paces, trying not to overbalance and end up in a sprawled heap on the floor of his own office; Serena stands across from him, her face slightly flushed and some hair sticking out at an odd angle. He finds his balance and Ric stands in the middle of their office, catching his breath and warily watching the woman stood a few paces away from him.

The kiss had been a reckless, impulsive decision.

Serena would be well within her rights to go running to Hanssen and accuse Ric of utterly inappropriate conduct and Ric knows that irrespective of their actions on Friday night, he would still be at fault. His gaze has drifted down to the carpeted floor of the office as the consequences of his rash actions begin to snowball in his mind.

Ric has no idea how long they are stood there in silence when Serena takes a step away from the door, towards him by default, the movement visible out of the corner of his eye

He glances up, half expecting to see faces pressed against the glass in the door, having witnessed the whole thing but the window is empty – apparently the consultant's office door slamming isn't unusual and Ric is grateful momentarily for Serena's unpredictable temper until he realises that any second now, the infamous Serena Campbell temper is going to explode in his direction.

He watches his colleague observing him and the longer the silence lasts the more he feels like a man approaching his own execution.

"Do you often use that tactic when trying to get your way with all your female colleagues?" Serena's accusation smarts and Ric scowls. "What _would_ Mr. Hanssen say about that little display?"

"I doubt he'd be jealous – he's not really my type." Ric blinks at the flippant comment, realising he'd said it out loud. 'Shit', he thinks, 'if those were my last words, I could do so much better'.

Serena's eyes narrow and Ric watches her with his best poker face, confused when a smirk appears on her face. She exhales, moving towards her own desk, "I suppose I should be flattered by that?"

"I'm as surprised as you, that wasn't-"

"I do hope you aren't going to apologise, it doesn't do much for a girl's ego." Serena picks up her pager and slips it into her pocket. "Oh and don't try that again in the office if you know what's good for you."

Ric watches her go out onto the ward and realises that he still doesn't know whether she is going to discharge his patient or not and decides that she can do what she wants, he isn't going to risk provoking her any further. Especially as he is still not certain if he has survived the incident yet.

The other reason Ric hadn't seen much of Serena was the result of, what Ric thinks, is a catastrophic error in judgement by Henrik Hanssen, the hospital's CEO and Director of Surgery. To quietly express concerns about the future direction, plans and policies of the NHS is to be somewhat expected in the upper echelons of hospital management. To air the concerns on local TV, in front of the health minister is another story complete.

Ric suspects that there was some creative editing on the part of the media, it is to be expected, but he finds it hard to believe that Hanssen could have been tricked, the man is a master tactician but either way, the fallout from his actions are going to make an uncomfortable few weeks, if not months for the Swede as he rides the incoming media storm.

Ric hadn't been on the ward at the time of the incident, his shift had started later and he'd come in to the aftermath, the tension that permeated the ward and that Serena veritably radiated made him instantly wary. He'd felt the tension as soon as he stepped out of the lift and approaching the nurses' station and although Chantelle had greeted him as politely as always, her usual enthusiasm was notably absent and the blonde nurse had informed him of Serena's presence in their office.

Serena hadn't said anything immediately as he followed the familiar path from the doorway to the desk, closing the door behind him with a quiet snick. Ric saw her look up briefly and then return to her laptop, typing furiously.

Then she cursed the man's short-sightedness from one end of the room to the other, barely stopping for breath. Ric then realised that even Serena's skills at damage limitation were being stretched and that the whole incident might be further-reaching than anyone had initially anticipated.

Ric had barely seen her after that but it was to be expected and Ric didn't think too much of the time that Serena spent on the fifth floor, returning only to Keller for electives and ward rounds as she and Hanssen presumably hashed out the details of their plan of attack. At least he assumed that is what they were doing, the fifth floor was maintaining a radio silence with the rest of the hospital.

Although Ric hadn't actively followed events, he'd been unable to avoid seeing his boss's face or voice on the TV or Radio. From the few times that Ric saw Hanssen in senior consultant meetings or passing him somewhere in the hospital, he could see the strain of the situation on the other man's face and he is glad that Serena is on _their_ side.

He'd offered his support to the Swede yesterday after stopping the CEO in the corridor outside ITU. Hanssen had stared at him for a long moment before stiffly asking, "if there's nothing else, Mr. Griffin?"

Ric closes the fridge door as he recalls how the man had glided away, silent on his feet as always, obviously rattled. Truth be told Ric was glad for the day off, the constant tension permeating the air at the hospital was exhausting to deal with. Glancing at his watch, Ric realises it's later than he realised and he can't be bothered to cook anything and settles on making himself a sandwich to tide him over until breakfast.

He has a week's holiday coming up soon, he can't wait – it's been too long since her saw Jess or Jake and the fall-out from Hanssen's ill-advised comments are putting a strain on everyone at the hospital.

Just as Ric puts the uninspiring sandwich on a plate, there is a knock at the front door. He pauses for a moment, trying to determine if it's his door or his neighbour's, it wouldn't be the first time Ric has mistakenly answered the door. After a moment or two he sweeps the crumbs off the side and into the bin but is forced to leave his dinner on the side when there is another forceful knock on his front door.

Ric ambles along the hallway, wondering who his visitor is; he hasn't ordered anything online and when he does, he usually gives the hospital's address – he seems to spend more time there than at home and Jess is away for the week at an old school friend's house near Leicester. He opens his front door to find Serena Campbell stood on his door step, he is busy trying to work out how his colleague found out where he lives when she speaks, her sharp tone breaking his chain of thought.

"Are you going to let me in or make me stand here all bloody night?"

Ric is uncertain if he wants Serena in his house in this mood but admits to himself that he is never going to find the courage to tell her no and so he obediently stands to one side and lets her in. As she moves past him, he looks at Serena to see that she is angry, beyond angry, she is furious and for a moment, Ric wonders what it is that he has done.

Only when he's shut the door behind Serena and wordlessly taken her coat, hanging it up next to his does the possibility occur to him that he may not be responsible for Serena's fury after all. She has already made her way into his living room and frowning at her decision to make herself at home, Ric follows her, all too aware that he'll have to tread carefully and ignore any lapse in manners on her part for both of their sakes.

"Are you hungry? I've-"

"No." Ric has to work to school his face, to hide the instinctive annoyance at Serena's blatant rudeness.

"Can I get you something to drink?" He asks, expecting another sharp, negative answer.

"What have you got?"

"Tea, coffee," Ric pauses seeing Serena's expression, "or something a little stronger? I've not got any wine, but..." Ric heads into the kitchen and finds a whiskey that a patient had given him in a cupboard, unopened and half-forgotten about. He turns and shows his colleague who shrugs.

"Sure. Whatever." Ric inhales slowly, counting as he does so to ignore Serena's dismissive acceptance of the drink. Finding a clean glass, Ric heads back into the living room and puts the bottle and glass down onto the coffee table with a clink.

* * *

Ric had blinked, equal parts concerned and impressed by Serena's ability to stomach the alcohol with little more than a brief grimace. Not to mention that he is still confused about her motivation for seeking him out in the first place.

After pouring and downing her second glass of the amber liquid, Serena reaches out for more and Ric moves, clasping his hand on top of hers, keeping the bottle where it is on the table. He isn't overly bothered if Serena finishes off the bottle, he isn't fussed about the drink – it's not his poison of choice but he won't allow her to drink herself into a stupor just yet.

First, Ric wants answers.

"What's happened, Serena?" Ric asks, the question that he should have asked earlier, as soon as she arrived, in his most patient and soothing tone of voice.

She promptly lets him know in no uncertain terms that it was the wrong approach.

"What's happened, Serena?" Ric asks again, undaunted by the display of anger he receives.

"What's happened?" Serena repeats incredulously as if she can't quite believe that Ric doesn't know and suspects him of winding her up. "Henrik fucking Hanssen happened, that's what." She snatches her hand away from his and pours herself another drink, barely wincing as the alcohol hits her system and Ric is aware that if she doesn't stop soon, she won't be fit to operate a kettle in the morning let alone a scalpel.

Serena is still furious and spoiling for a fight, with language and curses that would make a sailor look twice, Ric concedes that pointing that out might not have been the best move at this moment in time. After a fair amount of snarling and insults, he realises that she doesn't want soothing, she wants to fight with someone and Ric isn't certain whether to be pleased or scared that she's picked him for the job.

Muttering a silent prayer to any God that is listening, Ric prepares to goad her in an attempt to get to the bottom of what is bothering her. He'd received several insults about his methods of working and a couple of instructions to do things to himself that aren't even remotely physically possible. After nearly twenty minutes of ever-more intoxicated abuse, Ric eventually discovers the reason for Serena's fury.

Henrik Hanssen has demoted Serena from Keller to AAU.

The news stuns him, he barely pays attention to Serena's bitter delivery of the bombshell as she mimics the Swede, muttering phrases like 'cost effective' and 'most important to you'. He is still trying to understand the implications of the news when Serena pours herself another drink and he lets her have one last shot, picking up the glass to prevent her from drinking any more, not that there is an awful lot left in the bottle.

"I think that's enough of that." He murmurs, the neutral comment a last minute substitution for one which would have set her off again, however, in typical Serena Campbell fashion she takes objection to what he says and follows him into the kitchen with her glass as he tidies away. He reaches the end of his patience as she continues to mutter, comparing him to Hansen and insinuating that they are both attempting to ruin Serena's career.

"You've had a bad day and is your answer really going to be found at the bottom of a bottle?" He sees her expression change and instinctively Ric grasps her arms in case she decides to slap him.

"Is that really what everyone thinks of me?" Serena struggles against Ric's gentle but firm grip on her. "That I go home and drink myself into a stupor to try and cope with my empty life?" He feels the fight leave her as she seems to finally run out of anger and he pulls her into an embrace that she returns immediately.

"No-one knows what you do." Ric patiently answers, using his thumbs to rub her shoulders.

"So? It's my life, it doesn't give them the right to-" Ric interrupts Serena by kissing her – the tactic worked before so he risks another go. He also suspects that she needs some kind of reassurance, Hanssen's actions have truly shaken her.

"I want to know." His quiet confession, spoken before Serena can say anything, surprises Serena almost as much as it surprises himself and Ric finds that it's true. He wants more than a one night or two night stand with the fiery woman that has barely left his thoughts since he's met her.

"Why are you here?" Serena stares at him as if he's speaking in a different language and he tries again. "What is it you want?"

"I want you." Serena tells him matter-of-factly, the bluntness of her answer catches him by surprise and she takes the opportunity to grab the initiative and when Serena kisses him, Ric doesn't resist but ends the kiss sooner than he would like, aware of the nagging feeling at the back of his mind which tells him that she is upset, possibly more than a little drunk.

"Come on, I haven't got the time or the patience for this nobility of yours," Serena curses Ric's reluctance before her lips find his again in a brief, bruising kiss. "For God's sake Ric, make yourself useful and-"

"Just for you to decide in the morning that it was all another mistake?"

"I made a mistake – it happens occasionally." He's still not impressed. "I'll still be here in the morning." That wasn't quite what Ric wanted to hear but the woman is insistent as she tugs him out of the kitchen and up the stairs and he lets himself be led.

If Ric thought Serena was forward after Sacha's wedding, he was apparently mistaken; the alcohol and residual anger have combined and it's all Ric can do to keep up with Serena's instructions as they enter his bedroom.

"Are you sure?" He'd peeled off her navy blue over shirt, leaving her in a red vest top when she'd almost growled at him.

"Yes, I'm bloody well sure. Are you always this bloody slow?" He'd smirked at the jibe, half-tempted to tease her but realises that she would probably hurt him, Serena obviously isn't in the mood for any delays.

On the previous occasion, after the Levys' wedding, there had been a moment when he'd removed Serena's shocking pink shirt that she had looked away as her body was revealed to him but Ric had caught the flash of unexpected and endearing self-consciousness on her face and pale pink flush creeping over her skin.

There's no self-consciousness tonight and Serena tugs her vest over her head before helping Ric remove his clothing.

* * *

The morning finds Ric awake a few minutes before his alarm clock, he'd been woken by a neighbour leaving for work. He is warmed by Serena's presence and he observes the woman lying next to him, on her back, close but without wrapping herself around him. Ric finds that he doesn't mind that Serena has stolen 2/3 of the duvet and more than her fair share of his mattress but rather considers it typical of his colleague – an extension of her conscious persona.

The alarm clock begins to beep and Ric feels Serena stir and pause as she becomes aware of him; he relaxes when she turns to face him, lying on her side and Ric leans behind him to turn off the noisy device. Resuming his original position, Ric is pleasantly surprised by Serena when she decides to use his shoulder as a pillow.

"Ugh," Serena groans and then mutters something else, unintelligible for the most part but Ric makes out, "whiskey," and smiles to himself as he realises her head is obviously a little tender this morning.

After another comfortable minute or so, Serena groans and with a long-suffering sigh, rolls over and pushes the duvet to one side and sits up, swinging her legs over the edge of the mattress. Ric watches her progress with barely concealed measure of amusement and interest as she roots around for her discarded shirt; he attempts to make it look like he wasn't ogling his naked colleague but judging by Serena's smirk when she half-turns back to him, she knows.

"Time for a shower." Serena drawls, running her hands through her hair in an attempt to look less dishevelled.

"That suggestion has merit," Ric comments, his mouth engaging before his brain can filter the words. By the time that he realises what he's said, Serena is stood at the bedroom door and pauses, Ric commits the image in front of him to memory.

"Is that a request to join me?" Ric's brain grinds to a sudden halt and he scrambles to find an answer, hoping he hasn't cocked this up already. Serena smirks dangerously and Ric knows he's in trouble but Serena surprises him.

"Well? What are you waiting for, sailor? A better offer?" She raises an eyebrow, a gesture that drives him mad.

* * *

**AN2: There we go! So Ric escaped in one piece from the previous chapter (it would've made the rest of the story difficult to write if he hadn't!)**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter and that it was worth the wait. Feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you liked :-) **


	5. Chapter 5 - Serena's Last Day on Keller

**AN: Well don't I feel silly. I uploaded this last night and felt a little awkward that no-one had reviewed it only to realise that I hadn't actually published it. Ooops. Anyway, this is another little interlude; as it stands, the next chapter is going to be a big/important one and events of that only add to Ric's confusion and frustration.**

**I've started a new job as well and I tend to work Tuesday nights so I've missed the last couple of (okay, six) weeks of Holby so no-one tell me what's happened or happening – I'm going to catch up soon.**

**Thank you all for your lovely reviews, follows and reads of this, it's always great to know people are still reading and to get your feedback on it, especially with Ric's character. This is set about an hour or ninety minutes after the previous chapter. **

**Right, that's enough of that; usual disclaimers and on with the show!**

* * *

Last day on Keller

"Mmmm," Serena sighs contentedly as she takes a sip of her recently-acquired hot drink; Ric watches her and after a quick mouthful of his own coffee, decides that his is not that good. They've managed to end up with the lift to themselves from the ground floor up to Keller on the fourth floor, not that he is bothered, there's no hint of anything other than their usual work relationship on display.

"Happy?" He asks lightly, referring to the expression of satisfaction on Serena's face which threatens to become a smirk but transforms into a lazy smile instead, one that Ric doubts too many people ever get the opportunity to see. He attempts to commit the image to memory, in an attempt to recall it the next time that he and Serena argue to stop himself from plotting to throttle her.

"Yes." Her simple answer pleases him more than he'd ever let her know and he ignores the little voice which tells him that he's becoming too involved with this woman.

"Good – it's an improvement on your previous display." Ric comments without thinking as the lift doors open and Serena offers him an inscrutable look as she precedes him onto the ward and stalks off, not waiting for him.

Ric follows Serena, a few steps behind and unable to close the distance between them as the two consultants make their way to their shared office. He greets a passing registrar distractedly, annoyed at how his comment to Serena came out and he silently resigns himself to the probable offence Serena will take and negate any progress they've made.

'One step forward and one step backward' he thinks as they reach the office door, accepting the probable the hair dryer treatment he's about to receive and he apologises as soon as the office door had shut behind him. Serena had continued as if she hadn't heard him and Ric sighs, striding across the office, dumping his own bag under the table and turns to face his colleague, wanting to get his chastisement over with.

"As much as it pains me to admit it," Ric watches Serena as she removes her laptop from her shoulder bag, not looking at him as she talks to the room. "My reaction... before, left a lot to be desired."

Ric remains silent, aware that agreeing with her isn't the best approach in this instance. Once she has her desk set up to her liking, Serena continues to talk, confessing that this is the first attempt at any kind of romantic relationship in several years, since her divorce in fact, to Ric's surprise and pleasure. His surprise obviously shows because Serena takes one look at him, "gee thanks, Ric."

"Sorry," he apologises, "it's just that you..." he trails off, not quite sure how to finish that sentence, describing Serena's behaviour without offending her again.

"Flirt?"

"Err, yeah." Ric nods.

"Ah, All talk and no trousers," Serena confesses as she catches sight of his expression and almost sheepishly adds, "so to speak." He can't help but smile briefly at the last part.

Ric was just content to have her acknowledge that there was _something_ between them and not attempt to pass it off as nothing as she tried to do after Sacha's wedding. He's pretty certain that they can figure the rest of it out themselves in time an he is looking forward to doing so more than he should.

"Well, I suppose one of us should check the ward is still standing." Serena leaves the office with a smirk in his direction and all Ric an do is watch as she leaves the room to check on her patients. There are a couple of details Ric needs to check before he does his own rounds and pulling a pile of folders towards him, he muses that he is no closer to understanding Serena Campbell.

* * *

"For crying out loud; why are you so..." Serena stops, turns away and rests her hands on her desk and Ric idly thinks that if he was having this argument with Malick, the registrar would probably have put his fist through the desk; 'then again', Ric thinks, 'Mr. Malick wouldn't pick this fight'.

"So what?" Ric retorts, wanting Serena to finish her sentence.

"So stubborn," Ric snorts in response and Serena amends her attack. "So inflexible and unwilling to-"

"All this because I won't dump a vulnerable post-op patient as readily-"

"I'm not going to dignify that with an answer." Serena interrupts, visibly bristling at what Ric is implying.

Their good moods from this morning seem to have evaporated as the day has worn on; it's mid-afternoon and the effects of the night shifts' disturbance to Ric's sleeping pattern is starting to take its toll and he can feel himself start to flag. The irregular sleep combined with a lack of sleep last night has shortened his temper and Serena seems determined to jump all over his last nerve.

After a few hours he finds himself arguing with Serena about the topic they've argued to death but never fail to resurrect at any given moment. Patient discharging. Or 'patient turnover' as Serena sometimes calls it; Ric hates that phrase. It's little more than jargon from the business world which is creeping into medical terminology and reduces the importance of patients down to stock or commodity rather than customers – the whole reason the NHS exists and that any of them have jobs and he thinks that the upper echelons of the hospital and NHS management would do well to remember that.

"Do you deliberately seek to undermine my improvements to the running of this ward?" Ric longs to tell her that not everything is about her but isn't certain whether he has the patience to endure her response.

"I think you'll find that this is _my_ ward-"

"Don't dance on my grave – I haven't left yet."

"-and that this is my patient." Ric barely pauses for Serena's growled interruption. "Therefore, the clinical decision to discharge or not is _mine_."

"What a surprise that it's _your_ patient, Ric." Ric hears Serena's muttered comment and decides against ignoring it. Irrespective of the fact that they're sleeping together, Ric is not about to allow Serena to snipe and mutter at him.

"You may not place much faith in the _care in the community_ project you believe I run but there is more to recovery from surgery than-" Ric's lecture is stopped in its tracks by the smirk which appears on his colleague's face which rapidly transforms into rich laughter.

Ric watches his colleague laugh, completely bemused. Serena obviously thought that... actually he had no idea what Serena is thinking and finding so amusing – the woman is completely mystifying to him at times. He thought that they were arguing and so her laughter makes no sense to him whatsoever and Ric frowns, waiting for Serena to explain.

He waits rather impatiently for Serena to finish laughing and darkly thinks to himself that she had better not be laughing at him; he shoots her an almost baleful look but she doesn't seem to notice. After a minute or so, Serena sobers and catches sight of his expression.

"Oh, lighten up, Ric." She chastises gently, moving to sit on the edge of his desk.

"What's so amusing?" He asks pointedly, barely refraining from point out that she started this latest argument.

"It suddenly struck me that amidst all this upcoming change, that _we_ haven't changed. We're still arguing about the same things as before. It's a relief to be honest." Ric doesn't understand what he has to do with it, he's always rather thought that Serena could have a full-blown argument in an empty room. "I guess you'll always be a grumpy git, Ric but for now, you're _my_ grumpy git." Serena surprises Ric, he isn't certain why she was laughing, despite her explanation but her words cause a feeling of warmth and he ignores the voice telling him to be careful, conceding that it's probably something to think about later.

"Grumpy?" He responds sternly but his expression belies the seriousness of his words. "I think you'll find that _you_ started arguing with _me_. It's little wonder I'm grumpy." Serena snorts softly and looks around the room for a moment before returning her gaze to him.

Ric hadn't wanted to mention the impending staff change, over the past few months he'd rather gotten used to sharing the office with Serena. As amused as he is by Michael's likely reaction to Serena, he finds himself wishing that she was staying on Keller. He can't even begin to imagine what she has done to upset Hanssen to such a degree.

"I must admit," Serena says softly, any trace of aggression in her voice has gone. "I think I will almost miss your grumbling all the way up here."

"How will AAU cope with your efficiency and streamlining?" Ric responds dryly, almost wishing he could be a fly on the wall of AAU on Monday when Hurricane Serena is unleashed upon them.

"Well, I'm sure that Michael Spence will be happy to indulge me in an argument or two..." She recovers quickly and Ric knows that she is deliberately attempting to provoke him and he frowns, feeling an urge to kiss Serena to remove any thoughts of the American from her head.

"It will take some getting used to, not having anyone to lock horns with constantly," Ric comments, teasing Serena back. "I will be able to take as long as I want to discharge my patients, 3, 4 days, or even as long as a week if I believe it's in the best interests-"

"Enough." Serena throws her hands in the air in despair, provoking a smirk from Ric. "I'm sure my exile won't last for long, just long enough for the Swedish Chef to make his point." Ric tries not to frown, less certain than Serena about the severity of Hanssen's decision but says nothing. He can't help but think of Michael Spence who is still on AAU after nearly two years and the American is far less stubborn than Serena is.

"What are you doing tonight?" The question surprises Ric, it wasn't what he meant to ask her.

"Why, Mr. Griffin," Serena drawls, "are you asking me on a date?" Ric can see that Serena is smirking and she props herself on the edge of his desk as he tries to look offended by her suggestion and ignore the voice that tells him what he _is_ interested in.

"Not at all, Ms. Campbell," he responds in kind, "merely a drink between two colleagues on their last shift together."

"So it's just an excuse to get sozzled, dressed up as a toast to 'pastures new' or rather, wards new?" Ric tries to maintain an even expression and not reveal his amusement at how Serena has just set herself up and he savours the rare moment of knowing he's getting one over on her.

"Actually, Ms. Campbell," Ric runs a fingertip down her leg, "it is more to celebrate getting rid of you." He rapidly removes his hand from her body knowing that if she catches it, she'll probably break it.

His gaze rises to meet hers and the expression on Serena's face is priceless.

"I rather gave you that one," Serena huffs in what looks like mock annoyance to Ric. "Well, your celebration will have to wait – Eleanor and I are going to the cinema tonight."

"What are you going to see?" Ric asks automatically, partly to distract himself from the brief flare of disappointment. He tells himself that he has to tread carefully around Serena Campbell, she is dangerous enough without him becoming too involved and making himself vulnerable.

"No idea, it's her choice and as long as it isn't all guns and explosions, I don't mind." Serena leans towards him and he tracks her progress.

"Hmmm, I was under the impression that explosions were your speciality?" He asks, the sarcasm obvious and provokes Serena into rolling her eyes.

"Shut up, Ric." He smirks and sits forward in his chair and distractedly pleased by her apparent willingness to kiss him in the office, Ric throws caution to the wind and as their lips meet, he decides he wants to spend another evening with her soon and pulls away to ask her.

"So perhaps when I'm back, we could..."

"Mr. Griffin, Ms. Campbell, there you are – I've been looking all over for you." Ric's attention swivels around to the blonde nurse stood by the office door, thankfully she seems oblivious to the scene in front of her. Serena recovers quicker, the formidable consultant again in an instant and impatiently asks the nurse about her interruption as she stands, increasing the distance between herself and him.

"Well, I was just wondering if I should get Mrs. McTavish ready for discharging or... not." Chantelle trails off and Ric realises that he and Serena never finished that particular tête a tête, with neither of them willing to back down, however, Mrs. McTavish is his patient and he opens his mouth to tell Chantelle so.

"Yes." Serena answers before Ric can.

"No." Ric counters immediately. "She is my patient and I will speak to her in a little while. She stays where she is until then." He addresses Chantelle, deliberately not looking at Serena who seems to take exception to being ignored.

"Oh for God's sake Ric, this is madness..."

Neither of them notice when Chantelle exits the office again, shutting the door behind her quietly with a grimace on her face as she realises that she's set the two consultants off arguing again.

* * *

**AN: There were some nice warm words from Serena in there, did she mean them or is she just manipulating Ric? Hope you enjoyed this little chapter, more soon :-)**

**Next time – Ric returns from his holiday to find himself in a strange, new world.**

**Feel free to drop me a line and let me know if/what you liked :)**


	6. Chapter 6 - To Absent Friends

**AN: Despite my ramblings you all seem to keep reading and reviewing and I love every single message I get. Thank you all again. **

**Usual disclaimers... yadda, yadda, yadda. **

**Onwards!**

* * *

To Absent Friends.

"We almost had something that could have passed for a relationship or at least the start of one." Ric sighs, his hands fiddling with the coffee cup as he avoids his friend's scrutiny.

"And yet..." Elliot trails off deliberately to get Ric to continue his explanation.

"And yet in the space of a week it all changed." He sighs again before putting his coffee cup on Elliot's desk to stop him shredding the paper and spilling the cool dregs of the coffee everywhere. Ric meets Elliot's gaze and grins self-deprecatingly, his expression almost a grimace. "You know, I wasn't even in Holby that week. I had nothing to do any of it."

"Why not?" Ric thinks about Elliot's question, recalling the time he spent with his daughter and grandson away from the constant stress and pressure both from outside the hospital, from the media and the tension radiating from the fifth floor. It had been a very good week and he returned to the hospital refreshed, ready to go and utterly unprepared for the events which had unfolded and would continue to unfold for several weeks.

"I was on holiday, I had a week with Jess." He explains and Elliot nods, suddenly understanding when Ric is referring to. "Then I came back to a brave, new world and a new order established."

"But surely things wouldn't have changed with you two?" Elliot asks and Ric isn't certain whether it's deliberate naivety, designed to provoke some kind of possibly cathartic response on his part or whether his friend is _that_ unfamiliar with Serena Campbell.

He laughs almost bitterly, there's little, if any amusement to be found in the situation that he'd found himself in back in November and unbidden, the first day begins to replay itself and he describes the day from his point of view to his friend.

* * *

Ric makes his way across the hospital car park towards the lifts in the Wyvern entrance foyer, his phone in his hand as he rings the Director of Surgery's office – the call is transferred to answer phone which isn't unusual, the man he is trying to contact is perpetually busy. Especially in recent weeks with the media scrutiny he has been under, it's little wonder that Hanssen hasn't answered his phone just in case Ric is a reporter or a member of the board. His call is about the unresolved management issue on Keller which he wants sorted sooner rather than later but Ric is forced to hang up as he gets a shout from the ambulance which has just pulled up outside the main Wyvern hospital entrance.

Taking an early morning detour via AAU, they are unable to save the life of the patient and as he pronounces the patient dead at only 0815, he muses that it's not the start to his first day back that he wanted. The young, female doctor introduces herself, apologising to him for being so pushy and as he washes his hands with disinfectant gel, he waves away her concern, not bothered by her forthrightness and taking charge of the situation, especially as the woman is not a registrar as he had thought, rather a CT1.

"Excuse me, do you work here?" Ric is barely six feet onto his own ward before a blonde woman heads over from somewhere on his right.

"Yes, I do." He wants a few minutes just to put his case down but the mother is insistent and swallowing his annoyance, he heads over to the bed, he spends a couple of minutes assessing the patient and ordering some tests before excusing himself and striding back to the familiar office door, half-expecting another interruption.

Ric extracts what he needs to from his bag and puts it away, glancing over out of habit to Serena's desk; her bag isn't in its usual place. It isn't until he gets to the doorway of the office, his hand on the handle that he remembers – Hanssen demoted Serena to AAU in a fit of Swedish pique. Ric now has what he wanted a few months ago – the ward and office to himself once more and he finds that his wish may have been too hasty.

Staring at the vacant desk for a moment longer than necessary, Ric blinks and turns away towards his own desk, the niggling feeling that he has forgotten something. He hadn't spoken to Serena during the week he'd spent away but they had exchanged a couple of brief text messages.

Ric had wanted to know how things were going and how Serena was coping on her new ward as well as how AAU was coping with her. Serena's messages had hinted at frustration with the unpredictable nature of the ward and at some of her new colleagues to Ric's suppressed amusement; he can't see Serena Campbell and Michael Spence ever getting on and he assumes it's something which Hanssen had anticipated too, a bonus for the Swede. The messages he'd received back from Serena had made no mention of Henrik Hanssen and Ric hadn't asked about him, figuring that the enigmatic Director of Surgery was keeping a low profile, probably rather sensibly.

He had found himself thinking about Serena more as the week had worn on, wondering if the enforced space between them at work could work in their advantage; he was certainly looking forward to seeing her again and perhaps picking up where they had left off.

Ric shuts the office door behind him, the noise of the ward filling his ears as he makes sure that the lock clicks. A quick glance around the ward reveals no emergencies or wayward patients and so Ric strolls over to the nurses' station, to log onto the intranet and try and catch up with what has happened in his absence.

"Ah, Mr. Griffin, welcome back." A very familiar high-pitched voice greets him not looking up from the computer screen, scowling at his inability to log onto the intranet.

"Is there some reason that I can't access the system today, or?"

"Oh, password's been changed." The nurse explains, "Ms. Campbell thought-"

"Been changed." Ric sighs, the woman isn't on the ward any more and still interfering. He doesn't know whether Chantelle knows of Serena's demotion, "and where is Ms. Campbell? I don't see her name on the board."

"Has nobody told you?" Chantelle ignores his question, asking one of her own.

"Told me what?" Malick picks that moment to stroll over and between them they inform Ric of Hanssen's leave of absence. "Look, I don't have time for 20 questions, who is running Holby City?"

Chantelle doesn't give him a name but the expression on her face and awkward silence is telling enough. Malick reluctantly confirms Ric's guess and he excuses himself from the ward for a few minutes, leaving Malick in charge again.

* * *

He'd known.

Part of him had known, as soon as Chantelle and Malick had mentioned that Hanssen was gone, Ric knew who had installed themselves at the top.

His first sight of Serena after his return isn't the one he had expected, she is on the phone to the chairman, laughing in the appropriate places and being quite charming; it is something which would make Ric rather wary but he doubts that Cunningham would pick up on it, blinded by the way that Serena is obviously appealing to the man's easily-flattered ego. Ric takes the offered chair and sits himself down, waiting for Serena to finish the conversation, an unimpressed look upon his face; he decides to give Serena the benefit of the doubt for the moment and wait for her explanation of the situation, ignoring his gut instinct to blame her.

"Well, I take it congratulations are in order." It's a leading question but Serena's answer will give Ric some idea as to her feelings on the matter.

"For the moment I'm acting CEO, nothing more." Her answer is reassuring and Ric releases the breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding.

"And did you speak to Henrik before...?" He trails off, not quite certain whether Hanssen left or whether the Director of Surgery was pushed. Either way, Serena seems to know what Ric means and doesn't draw any attention to Ric's uncertainty and faint accusation.

"Not a whisper, inscrutable to the last." Ric blinks – that wasn't the answer he was looking for but part of him cheers Hanssen's ability to keep everyone guessing, a glimmer of hope that the man may return.

"Will he be coming back?"

"No-one knows," Serena pauses and Ric thinks she is enjoying the situation a little too much for her assurances that it's only a temporary position to be as serious as he wants them to be. "So we keep calm and carry on. It's business as usual."

"However, it is a testing time for Holby so I would appreciate it if you keep a tight grip on budgets and avoid any non-essential procedures."

"Understood." Ric answers, he should have known there would be some kind of a catch, Serena's assurances about ward autonomy would come at a cost; it's how the woman seems to work. Quid pro quo. "And you?"

"Me?"

"What are your plans? Personally?" It's an important question for Ric, he wants to be aware of what Serena's plans are and what they mean for him, for them.

"Did you not get the email?" Serena's confusion is clear, her brow is furrowed a little as she looks at him and Ric holds her gaze, trying not to wonder what kind of bombshell she is about to drop.

"I've only just got back," he explains for what feels like the dozenth time this morning. " I haven't caught up."

"Right...Well, certain senior consultants," Serena drawls, pointing to the two of them with her pen. "Have been invited to interview for the post of acting CEO, since the position is only temporary but situation critical they have bypassed formal application procedures and interviews are scheduled for this afternoon."

"Yours is at... Let me see..." Ric watches Serena, disquieted by how much she is enjoying this. "Four o'clock."

"That's if you want the job?" Serena smirks, knowing she has the upper hand in the conversation. Ric offers a sarcastic smile in response, confirms the time and makes his escape, citing a patient.

* * *

The next few hours pass in a bit of a blur, Ric has several thoughts going through his mind as he heads back onto the ward, reassuring Malick that, "apart from tightening of budget and avoiding non-essentials, the ward is sacrosanct – her words."

"Do you believe her?" Malick asks and Ric silently answers that he isn't sure any more, he isn't sure he recognises the Serena Campbell he's spoken with today; it's certainly not the same woman he woke up with last week.

"She's incredibly busy and out of my hair," Ric deflects and the two men head off to give the Earnshaws the news about the kidney.

Ric leaves Malick to continue the kidney transplant and he finds himself sat outside the boardroom on the fifth floor just before four o'clock. He can hear Serena through the thin walls, making her pitch to the assembled suits; he has no way of knowing if the Board are buying Serena's spiel but Ric concedes that on her day, Serena Campbell could sell snow to the Eskimos. As he waits, Elliot's words play on his mind.

'The last few days she's been in the post, Ms. Campbell has already begun to interfere with non-essential procedures, clinical trials, ward budgets.' Ric resists the urge to pace as his friend's words contradict Serena's earlier promises. 'Now I understand that she's cutting clinical skills funding, which could directly affect Mr. Malick's position.'

'A Holby under her control is not something anyone wants.' The door opens and Serena covers her surprise well when she spots Ric.

"Change your mind?"

"Evidently." He answers in a bland tone.

"Well, best of luck." Ric doesn't answer her and strides past her, into the boardroom.

Ric doesn't have a fancy presentation like Serena; he's had no time to prepare one and all he can do is stand in front of the assembled interview panel to remind them about why they are here. What the hospital is here for.

The patients.

His pager beeps and it's Keller Theatre. Ric ignores it for the moment and carries on. His back-to-basics approach seems to be getting a positive response from what he can tell. When his pager beeps again, Ric has to put his money where his mouth is, excusing himself form the interview only part-way through. He is aware that he has probably ruined his chances but he's here to treat patients, not play politics. He has survived Hurricane Serena once, he'll survive again.

He isn't particularly surprised when the news comes through later at the fact that he didn't get the job. Ric is more surprised by the fact that Serena didn't either and the board have appointed and external candidate.

* * *

Ric heads to Albie's to have a quick drink after work. As first days back go, today was a particularly trying one in the grand scheme of things and one he was utterly unprepared for. He had only been gone a week but it was almost an unfamiliar hospital which he had returned to this morning.

Hanssen's leave of absence isn't entirely unexpected, Ric concedes, considering the amount of stress the man has been under recently but part of him finds it hard to accept that the unflappable man has actually caved.

Sadly, what doesn't surprise him is the way in which Serena Campbell has jumped at the chance to be the boss; the earth has barely settled on Hanssen's metaphorical grave and Serena is already dancing on it. Ric and Hanssen didn't always see eye-to-eye but Ric owes his life to the Swede and he has come to grudgingly believe that Hanssen did have the hospital's best interests at heart and certainly doesn't deserve the treatment he's been getting.

Tilting his nearly empty glass on its edge at 45 degrees, Ric contemplates his rival of the day and Serena's behaviour. He sighs to himself, today was not a normal day but the realisation that Serena has shown her true colours is an unpleasant one; he doesn't want to be case aside like the Swede – he got a taste of it earlier in Hanssen's office when Serena pulled rank, summoning him just before the kidney transplant and tried to lecture him.

'On your head be it'.

Ric can still hear Serena's voice issuing the warning and he sighs to himself; that was the straw which broke the camel's back and made up Ric's mind. He just has to find a way of telling Serena.

Ric's musing is broken by Chantelle Lane making an appearance somewhere to his left; they have a brief but odd conversation about cheese and Ric knows better than to ask the nurse to attempt to explain. He watches her bounce away, over to her date, someone from radiology, apparently.

"Can I get you another?" A very familiar and currently unwelcome voice sounds from behind him and Serena sits herself on the stool to his right. He knows they need to talk but he doesn't want to do it now.

"Actually, I was just off." He stands, gathering his coat from his lap, a strategic retreat is his best option at the moment.

"Don't give me that." Her tone of voice doesn't allow for any arguments. "After today, it's a night for a lock-in. Letting us make fools of ourselves like that, I'm spitting feathers." Ric watches Serena mutter angrily into the middle distance for a few moments before she turns around to him.

"Come on, I don't offer lightly."

"Just a small one for me." Ric finds himself conceding. "Thank you," he addresses the barman and the man nods, waiting on Serena's order.

"Usual, please." Ric sits back down, resting his arms on the bar, not realising that he and Serena are subconsciously mirroring one another, the tension and awkwardness between them palpable. "External acting CEO, really." Ric hears Serena huff. "Got any idea who they appointed?"

"None whatsoever." Ric finds he doesn't mind; they'll find out in due course and for the first time today, everyone else seems to be as in the dark as he is.

"Talk about 'we live in interesting times'." Serena thanks the barman who places their drinks in front of them, Ric nods his thanks silently. "What shall we drink to?"

"To Henrik." The surprise on Serena's face isn't unexpected; sadly Ric thought that Serena would have forgotten about the man already, dismissed him as a fallen rival while she indefatigably moves on to new targets and heights. "Wherever he is, I bet he's laughing."

"Hmmm." Serena looks as if she is weighing up Ric's suggestion in her mind before raising her glass and repeating Ric's toast. "To Henrik." They clink their glasses together before drinking to the health of the mysteriously departed enigmatic Swede.

One drink with Serena quickly becomes two and Ric makes himself call it a night before he drinks too much to be able to drive – he's cutting it fine as it is. Announcing his intention to Serena, he gathers his coat and briefcase once more, standing to leave and bidding her goodnight.

"Wait, Ric." Serena takes a final mouthful of wine and follows him out of Albie's and across the hospital forecourt to the staff car park. They travel in silence, traces of their earlier awkwardness becoming more pronounced as they walk.

Ric can see Serena's car parked further up, closer to the exit as he comes to a sudden halt all of nine foot away from his own can when Serena's fingers finds his forearm, sliding her hand down his wrist and tug him to a stop, holding his hand. He makes an effort to remove his hand from hers gently, careful not to snatch it back and taking a calming breath, Ric turns to face Serena, waiting to hear what she wants.

They're stood in the dark, barely illuminated staff car park just behind the Wyvern entrance to the hospital. There is just enough light for Ric to see Serena by and despite how he still feels about her, Ric knows that he can't continue whatever it is he has with Serena. What they had was certainly enjoyable while it lasted but it obviously wasn't meant to last. Today has demonstrated that Serena is more interested in the power she could wield and that is never going to make for a healthy relationship.

"I think today has shown that it's best to end things now for both our sakes." Ric says when Serena remains uncharacteristically quiet. Reluctant to step away, Ric allows himself a final kiss and he presses his lips to Serena's, lingering for a few moments longer than he knows he should.

"Ric-" Serena starts as he pulls away.

"No Serena, I'm sorry." Serena huffs and glances away, the ambient light is just enough for him to see her jaw clenching. "I _am_ sorry but I don't think that you are."

Ric decides he needs to leave now, when things are still just this side of amicable before either he or Serena say anything regrettable. "I'll see you tomorrow." Ric turns and heads towards his car, looking into the rear view mirror once he is settled in the driver's seat at Serena, stood watching him before she moves off in the direction of her own car.

Ric rests his head back against the headrest, eyes closed; knowing he has done the right thing doesn't make it any easier to swallow. Ric is determined not to let this affect their working relationship and concedes that Hanssen's decision to demote Serena to AAU may be a blessing in disguise and just what they need if they are ever going to recover.

Serena has left by the time Ric reverses out of his parking spot and as he drives past the vacant spot, he exhales, thinking about how much difference a day can make.

* * *

"I kept expecting Serena to turn up on my doorstep, all fire and brimstone, ready to tell me that I was an idiot and just completely wrong." Ric sighs. "Yet again."

"Did she?" Elliot queries and Ric shakes his head.

"No," Ric answers, not confessing that he had wanted her to but he suspects that Elliot has already guessed as much, "she didn't." Ric had waited for a couple of hours, expecting the angry knock at the door until he admitted it wasn't going to happen and had eventually gone to bed, annoyed, confused and frustrated.

"What did she do?"

"Well, the next few days weren't what I expected."

"How so?"

* * *

**AN: The end? Hell no. **

**Lots more still to come, we have to deal with Lilah and Imelda and the return of the Swede.**

**Drop me a line, let me know what you thought :)**


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